How Can I Manage My Cat With Adhd?

[treschanna]

I need some advice: I know how this is going to sound....but....today I found out one of my kittens has adhd and this is kind of creating a problem because recently I got a second kitten thinking that I was getting him a playmate. I didn't realize my kitten had adhd till I attempted to introduce the new kitten to him and he couldnt read the other kitten's body language at all and it aggravated the other kitten and she started hissing and growling at him. I'm keeping them in two different rooms and have taken steps to getting them acclimiated to eachothers scent but the main issue is that the kitten with adhd gets overly excited about the fact that there's another kitten and keeps ignoring their body language and insisting on attempting to play with them. Is there a way to get my kitten with adhd to be a bit more mellow so that the other kitten will stop hissing at him??

Again I know this sounds ridiculous but I'm a new cat owner and I didnt even know it was possible for cats to have adhd till my boyfriend who has owned several cats explained it to me and now I'm just worried that even though my kitten wants a playmate he wont be able to have one beause he cant read body language and insists on trying to wrestle and play.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

Can you go i to lore detail as to how you determined Kitty has ADD? My cat has a similar issue and I'm wondering if it's the same thing.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

Into more*

Sorry, touchscreen.

 

[treschanna]

Well, well when I first brought home the first kitten (the one with adhd who I tried to get a playmate for) he was doing laps around the apartment tirelessly. I don't mean running in a small circle,...I mean full blown laps around the whole apartment at full speed. This may seem normal for a kitten but I've noticed a few other things such as the fact that he has a tendency to start playing with a toy..then 2 seconds later he gets bored and switches to another, he has a very short attention span, he has a total lack of self awareness...like when I brought the new kitten in and introduced them he started sniffing her and insisting on trying to play right away despite the fact that most cats tend to like their personal space when meeting a new cat,...the list goes on and on. Then my boyfriend mentioned "you know he has adhd right??" I looked up whether it was possible for kittens to have adhd and...well....I found several articles from various sources explaining that they can and what the symptoms are...and he fit them to a T.

 

[susanm9006]

Whatever label you put on him, and I don’t personally think it applies to a kitten, an over active kitten is an overactive kitten. You need to keep him stimulated with a wide variety of toys, actively play with him, give him plenty of room to run off his energy and provide an energetic playmate.

My absolute most hyperactive terror of a kitten grew to be my most intelligent cat and as an adult the one that was able to focus and problem solve better than any of my other cats. So hyperactivity as a kitten doesn't necessarily equate to ADHD.

 

[MyHeadHurts]

So you're talking about actual literal activity level. Okat, I was thinking you meamt activity as attention seeking behind it. I mean, your cat clearly wants attention. But it doesn't sound like it is exclusively attention seeking behavior. Maybe a cat wheel would help?

 

[treschanna]

Whatever label you put on him, and I don’t personally think it applies to a kitten, an over active kitten is an overactive kitten. You need to keep him stimulated with a wide variety of toys, actively play with him, give him plenty of room to run off his energy and provide an energetic playmate.

My absolute most hyperactive terror of a kitten grew to be my most intelligent cat and as an adult the one that was able to focus and problem solve better than any of my other cats. So hyperactivity as a kitten doesn't necessarily equate to ADHD.

That's a fair answer but that isn't the problem and I've spent quite a lot on toys for him already and play with him all the time. The issue is that right now him wanting to play all the time and being over rambunxious and aggressive about it is creating conflict between him and the other kitten because of how he's interacting with them. This post is about getting advice about how to get the new more calm kitten to feel more at ease and stop hissing at my other kitten who is extremely hyperactive and cant read into body language.

 

[duckpond]

Have you had a vet visit with the kittens? If there is a possibility that that the kitten has ADHD you will need a vet diagnosis, and most likely medications. If you think your kitten has this disease please see a vet, they will be your best help for the kitten.

All kittens are wild and never stop, they have no attention span to speak of, that's fairly normal. The resident kitten would be accustom to your home, the new kitten not, so the new one was most likely not ready for the wild resident kitten. and your wild kitten is ready to play and play hard, he is too excited to care what the other kitten thinks. How long have you had the kittens, how old are they, and have you had them in the same room again?

 

[1 bruce 1]

Whatever label you put on him, and I don’t personally think it applies to a kitten, an over active kitten is an overactive kitten. You need to keep him stimulated with a wide variety of toys, actively play with him, give him plenty of room to run off his energy and provide an energetic playmate.

My absolute most hyperactive terror of a kitten grew to be my most intelligent cat and as an adult the one that was able to focus and problem solve better than any of my other cats. So hyperactivity as a kitten doesn't necessarily equate to ADHD.

Can I add to this suggestion?
Read about clicker training until your brain falls out of your ears. OK, maybe not that, but still.
Kittens that play, are energetic and happy and full of life but hiss at an intruder are not ADHD. They're normal. Kittens hiss, puppies growl, it's communication. I wouldn't worry unless there was serious stalking with intent to do harm (on the new kitten), and I doubt this will be a problem.
Karen Pryor has great books. She is mostly a dog trainer but has trained dolphins, whales, chickens, horses, pet fish, etc. to do things from party tricks (cute stuff) to complicated tasks (service animals, performances animals, and successfully taught a captive wolf an alternate behavior vs. attacking the fence at visitors.)
I only mention this type of training for this kitten because SusanM made the excellent observation that her hyperactive terror kitten turned into a highly intelligent cat. High intellect in any species is usually a very teachable individual.
We have a handful of cats here that were extremely people oriented as kittens, as well as insane and into everything 24 hours a day. Both kittens were successfully taught to accept a cat-proof ex-pen, as well as taught to come when called, sit, sit pretty (Cute!), high five, and other fun stuff.

Stop worrying about the energy of a kitten =) You're doing fine. The last kitten we brought in, our head female spend about 3 months hissing at her, swatting at her, and pretty much underlining the point to this little youngster that she was Queen Bee and the new kid better not forget it. They get along fine now!

I say this with nothing but caring and slight jealousy over the fact you have a kitten and I don't of course

 

[1 bruce 1]

Well, well when I first brought home the first kitten (the one with adhd who I tried to get a playmate for) he was doing laps around the apartment tirelessly. I don't mean running in a small circle,...I mean full blown laps around the whole apartment at full speed. This may seem normal for a kitten but I've noticed a few other things such as the fact that he has a tendency to start playing with a toy..then 2 seconds later he gets bored and switches to another, he has a very short attention span, he has a total lack of self awareness...like when I brought the new kitten in and introduced them he started sniffing her and insisting on trying to play right away despite the fact that most cats tend to like their personal space when meeting a new cat,...the list goes on and on. Then my boyfriend mentioned "you know he has adhd right??" I looked up whether it was possible for kittens to have adhd and...well....I found several articles from various sources explaining that they can and what the symptoms are...and he fit them to a T.

We have (too) many cats, and many if not all of those have done laps for no reason, lost interest in toys after a few seconds and their attention span is crazy short!
If you brought a new kitten in and he was delighted, that's GREAT!!! We have one single cat who greets new kittens, cats, dogs, you name it, like they're his long lost best friend. It was puzzling for many years but I've stopped trying to label it and realized what a great gift he is. He makes any fosters feel welcome almost immediately and is loved by ALL our cats and dogs. He's almost 11 and has never been in a fight.
IMO, this is a GOOD trait, honest. He's a happy, confident baby. He's an active kitten, and active kittens are usually healthy and happy, which also is a GOOD trait =)

I'm sure ADHD exists in cats but I wouldn't get too worried yet. (Also, as a side note, I personally would *NOT* consider any kind of medication to "bring them down".) Heck, I have litter mates rapidly approaching 10 years old that still run laps every morning and every night, and attack random objects (like socks, dead bugs, or semi-invisible spots of water from leftover snow tracked in on our boots) like they're lions or tigers attacking a poisonous snake. It's HILARIOUS and endearing and perfectly normal IMO.

A kitty friend of the same age might be a good bet and might be a good way for him to release that energy and have someone of the same species play-style. Kittens are dramatic, funny, fun, and often dash around the room for no real reason and have the same attention span as a 2 year old child (meaning, very little to none.)

Please don't worry and enjoy the fun crazies

 

[treschanna]

Have you had a vet visit with the kittens? If there is a possibility that that the kitten has ADHD you will need a vet diagnosis, and most likely medications. If you think your kitten has this disease please see a vet, they will be your best help for the kitten.

All kittens are wild and never stop, they have no attention span to speak of, that's fairly normal. The resident kitten would be accustom to your home, the new kitten not, so the new one was most likely not ready for the wild resident kitten. and your wild kitten is ready to play and play hard, he is too excited to care what the other kitten thinks. How long have you had the kittens, how old are they, and have you had them in the same room again?

Well, I've had the high energy one for about a month or so now and I just got the more calm kitten yesterday. I haven't had them in the same room ever since their initial introduction because I dont want either of them to start fighting and the high energy one is only about 3.5 months old and still kind of small. He's been to a vet a few times and hasn't been diagnosed or anything like that but even if he doesn't have it and im wrong (which could be the case) it still leaves me wondering if there's a way to get him to be a bit more relaxed or at least read into body language enough to be able to gauge when a person/cat does or doesnt feel like playing so he doesnt get hurt. The good news is I peered over near the door because i saw the new kitten go near it and i got worried she might try to provoke the high energy kitten I referred to in my original post since she seemed to hear him yowling. But when she was there she actually started trying to comfort him by touching his paws and just sitting there with him and he ended up calming down. After seeing this I feel significantly more at ease because i would never want to see either of them get hurt by fighting or anything.

 

[treschanna]

Can I add to this suggestion?
Read about clicker training until your brain falls out of your ears. OK, maybe not that, but still.
Kittens that play, are energetic and happy and full of life but hiss at an intruder are not ADHD. They're normal. Kittens hiss, puppies growl, it's communication. I wouldn't worry unless there was serious stalking with intent to do harm (on the new kitten), and I doubt this will be a problem.
Karen Pryor has great books. She is mostly a dog trainer but has trained dolphins, whales, chickens, horses, pet fish, etc. to do things from party tricks (cute stuff) to complicated tasks (service animals, performances animals, and successfully taught a captive wolf an alternate behavior vs. attacking the fence at visitors.)
I only mention this type of training for this kitten because SusanM made the excellent observation that her hyperactive terror kitten turned into a highly intelligent cat. High intellect in any species is usually a very teachable individual.
We have a handful of cats here that were extremely people oriented as kittens, as well as insane and into everything 24 hours a day. Both kittens were successfully taught to accept a cat-proof ex-pen, as well as taught to come when called, sit, sit pretty (Cute!), high five, and other fun stuff.

Stop worrying about the energy of a kitten =) You're doing fine. The last kitten we brought in, our head female spend about 3 months hissing at her, swatting at her, and pretty much underlining the point to this little youngster that she was Queen Bee and the new kid better not forget it. They get along fine now!

I say this with nothing but caring and slight jealousy over the fact you have a kitten and I don't of course

That honestly helps me feel a lot better.

 

[treschanna]

We have (too) many cats, and many if not all of those have done laps for no reason, lost interest in toys after a few seconds and their attention span is crazy short!
If you brought a new kitten in and he was delighted, that's GREAT!!! We have one single cat who greets new kittens, cats, dogs, you name it, like they're his long lost best friend. It was puzzling for many years but I've stopped trying to label it and realized what a great gift he is. He makes any fosters feel welcome almost immediately and is loved by ALL our cats and dogs. He's almost 11 and has never been in a fight.
IMO, this is a GOOD trait, honest. He's a happy, confident baby. He's an active kitten, and active kittens are usually healthy and happy, which also is a GOOD trait =)

I'm sure ADHD exists in cats but I wouldn't get too worried yet. (Also, as a side note, I personally would *NOT* consider any kind of medication to "bring them down".) Heck, I have litter mates rapidly approaching 10 years old that still run laps every morning and every night, and attack random objects (like socks, dead bugs, or semi-invisible spots of water from leftover snow tracked in on our boots) like they're lions or tigers attacking a poisonous snake. It's HILARIOUS and endearing and perfectly normal IMO.

A kitty friend of the same age might be a good bet and might be a good way for him to release that energy and have someone of the same species play-style. Kittens are dramatic, funny, fun, and often dash around the room for no real reason and have the same attention span as a 2 year old child (meaning, very little to none.)

Please don't worry and enjoy the fun crazies

Awhhh your cats sound adorable and thank you so much for sharing your experience because i honestly got really worried since he didnt seem to be reacting when the new kitten we brought in started hissing and trying to indicate that she wanted to be left alone and he's so small and young its hard to not get over protective and worried about him misreading another cat's body language and getting hurt.